but later today, the 22-year-old goes on trial, accused of viciously murdering his own mother. ruth pyne's body was found bludgeoned and stabbed repeatedly inside the garage of her family's idyllic home in 2011. >> the whole thing, you know, really upset the entire neighborhood. >> reporter: after five months of investigating, her son, jeffrey, was indicted, charged with beating her to death and put in jail. >> i really don't think jeffrey did it. he was no threat for five months. why was he all of a sudden a threat? >> reporter: ruth's husband, pyne's father, tells abc news, he believes his son is innocent. but by all accounts, what happened in this suburban home is a complicated story. court records show ruth had a history of mental illness and was allegedly often violent. in 2010, she was accused of attacking jeffrey, allegedly beating him and attempting to strangle him. she was jailed for two weeks. >> her own psychologist had recommended that she had become impatient because of her mental illness. the question is, did this violent history with the mother provide a motive f